These
recordings, in their original LP incarnation, were the first of
music by Bridge that I ever bought. It was actually The Sea
that I wanted to acquire, having heard a performance on the radio,
but all the rest of the music, then completely new to me, proved
to be well worth getting to know. In those days (1976) there was
very little of Bridge’s music available on record. Over the intervening
years that has changed and there is now a good selection of recordings
available. The Sea, in particular exists in a number of
fine performances by conductors of the stature of Vernon Handley,
Richard Hickox and by Bridge’s most famous pupil, Benjamin Britten
(a live performance on BBC Legends). Britten’s disc also includes
Enter Spring and Hickox has also done that work for Chandos,
albeit on a separate CD. However, revisiting these Groves performances
I was delighted to find that they have stood the test of time
very well.

The
Sea is probably more immediately approachable than the other
two major works included here but that does not make it any less
rewarding. Indeed, it seems to me to be a very successful and
atmospheric evocation of the various "moods" of the
sea. Right at the start the swelling chord followed by the undulating
theme on lower strings is highly suggestive and this is but one
of many touches of high-class orchestration to be found in this
work. Bridge need not fear comparison with Britten or Debussy
The thematic material is also interesting and appealing. Aided
by fine, committed playing from the RLPO and a wonderfully rich,
red-blooded EMI recording (typical of them at this period) Groves
imparts the atmosphere of all four movements extremely well. Comparing
him with Britten (live in The Maltings at the 1967 Aldburgh Festival
I find that Groves is, for example, a little richer in tone at
the start of the third movement but there’s little in it. Hickox,
of course has the benefit of a sumptuous 2001 Chandos recording
and so his version inevitably registers more detail than his rivals.
In the fourth movement Britten whips up the most tempestuous storm
of all and, all in all, I thought that by a whisker his reading
conveys the most in terms of the tang of the sea – after all,
he lived by the seaside for years. But it’s a very close thing
and no one buying this Groves performance is likely to feel short-changed
at all.

Summer
is a fine work in which Bridge conjures up the warmth of a
"traditional" English summer day. (I’m quite sure he
didn’t have in mind the oppressive humidity that we’re currently
"enjoying" in July 2003 in England.) As Anthony Payne
aptly puts it in his notes "over all there lies a lazy warmth
and sometimes a mystery that never fails to haunt the listener."
Groves paints the picture for us very well and gets some extremely
responsive playing from his Liverpool band. They also play both
of the shorter pieces extremely well. No mere "fillers"
these, especially the touching and sincere little Lament!

What
an extraordinary work is Enter Spring, which is by some
distance the latest work in this collection. It was composed after
Bridge’s style had undergone a transformation in the aftermath
of World War I, becoming much more complex and harmonically unstable.
Bridge’s masterpiece (for such it surely is) is a Dionysian evocation
of the annual re-creative power of Spring. In fact, though the
musical styles are light years apart I’d liken it in this respect
to the first movement of Mahler’s Third Symphony, which is another
glorious, hedonistic celebration of nature. The piece teems with
invention and detail and Groves and his players rise to the challenge
wonderfully Again, Britten’s performance is marvellous and I wouldn’t
want to be without it either but Groves need not fear comparison,
I think.

When
I was growing up in the North of England Sir Charles Groves was
in his heyday as conductor of the RLPO. The enterprise and adventure
of his programmes (and recordings) put many of his colleagues
to shame and his advocacy of English music was particularly potent
and consistent. It’s good to welcome back into the catalogue these
fine performances as a reminder of this doughty champion of the
music of his native land on his best form. The recordings have
transferred extremely well to CD and I’m delighted that the truly
excellent notes by composer Anthony Payne have survived from the
original LP issue.

These
recordings were my introduction to the music of Frank Bridge and
comparison with later recordings by other conductors confirms
that Sir Charles was an expert guide. For anyone wanting an authoritative
introduction to Bridge’s orchestral music the choice and execution
of this programme mean that this CD is an ideal place to start.
Strongly recommended.

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